Post-Classical India 2

I. Islamic and Hindu kingdoms

A.The quest for centralized imperial rule

1. North India

• Tension among regional kingdoms
• Nomadic turks became absorbed into Indian society

  Domed stables for the war elephants

2. Harsha (reigned 606-648 C.E.) temporarily restored unified rule in north India

• Army included 20,000 cavalry, 50,000 infantry, and 5,000 war elephants
• Reputation for piety, liberality, and scholarship
• Provided free medical care to his subjects
• Assassinated and left no heir to maintain his realm

B. Introduction of Islam to northern India

1. The Sind were conquered by Arab Muslims and passed to the hands of the Abbasids caliphs
2. Muslim merchants formed small communities in all major cities of coastal India; especially in Cambay (most important trade center in India)
3. Turkish migrants and Islam: Turks convert to Islam in tenth century

• Some moved to Afghanistan and established an Islamic state

4. Mahmud of Ghazni, Turk leader in Afghanistan, made expeditions to northern India

• Didn't want to conquer the land, but he wanted to plunder wealth stored in well-endowed temples
• Demolished hundres of sights associated with Hinduism or Buddhism
• His raids did not encourage Indians to turn to Islam

5. The Sultanate of Delhi (1206-1526 C.E.)

• Mahmud's successors conquered north India, 1206
• Established an Islamic state known as the sultanate of Delhi
• Sultan's authority did not extend far beyond the capital at Delhi
• Islam began to have a place in India

C. The Hindu kingdoms of southern India

1. The south: politically divided but relatively peaceful
2. The Chola kingdom (850-1267 C.E.)was a larger kingdom; ruled Coromandel coast

• At its high point, conquered Ceylon and parts of southeast Asia
• Navy dominated waters from South China Sea to Arabian Sea
• Not a tightly centralized sate; local autonomy was strong
• Began to decline by the twelfth century

D. The kingdom of Vijayanagar (1336-1565 C.E.): Vijayanagar meaning City of Victory

1. Established by two Indian brothers who represented the Sultan
2. They renounced Islam in 1336 and returned to their Hindu faith
3. Fell to Muslim kingdoms in 1565

II. Production and trade in the Indian Ocean basin

A. Agriculture in the monsoon world

1. The monsoons (rains in spring and summer)
2. Irrigation systems were needed for dry months

• No big river in south India; waterworks included dams, reservoirs, canals, wells
• Stored rainwater in large reservoirs connected to canals
• one reservoir constructed during the eleventh century covered 250 square miles

3. Population growth: 53 million in 600 C.E. to 105 million in 1500 C.E.
4. Urbanization took place in Delhi and other large port cities

B. Trade and economic development of southern India

Trade routes of India

1. Internal trade

• Self-sufficient in staple foods such as rice, wheat, barley, and millet
• Metals, spices, special crops found only in certain regions: Iron -> Ganges River Valley, Copper -> Deccan Plateau, Salt -> Coastal Regions, Pepper -> Southern India
• Through trade, south India and Ceylon experienced rapid economic growth

2. Temples and society in south India

• Hindu temples served as economic and social centers
• Possessed large tracts of land, hundreds of employees
• Temple administrators were to maintain order, deliver taxes
• Served as banks; engaged in business ventures

C. Cross-Cultural trade in Indian Ocean basin

1. Dhows and Junks-- large ships involved in maritime trade in Indian Ocean
2. Emporia, Indian port cities, were clearinghouses of trade and cosmopolitan centers
3. Trade goods

• Silk and porcelain from China
• Spices from southeast Asia
• Pepper, gems, pearls, and cotton from India
• Incense and horses from Arabia and southwest Asia
• Gold, ivory, and slaves from east Africa

4. Specialized production

• Production of high-quality cotton textiles thrived
• other specialized industries: sugar, leather, stone, carpets, iron and steel

5. The Kingdom of Axum: Christian Empire centered in Ethiopia

• resisted pressures of Islam, stayed prosperous through trade
• Controlled Adulis, most prominent port on Red Sea

D. Caste and society: caste provided guidance in absence of centralized political authority

1. Caste helped to integrate immigrants(Turks, Muslim merchants) into Indian society
2. Caste and social change: guilds and subcastes (jatis)
3. Expansion of caste system, especially to southern India

III. The meeting of Hindu and Islamic traditions

A. The development of Hinduism

1. Hinduism predominated in southern India, Islam in the north
2. Vishnu and Shiva

• Decline of Buddhism benefited Hinduism
• The growth of Vishnu and Shiva cults (and other gods associated with them)

3. Devotional cults: to achieve mystic union with gods as a way of salvation
4. Shankara: philosopher (ninth century) who preferred disciplined logical reasoning
5. Ramanuja: philosopher (eleventh and twelfth centuries) believed that understanding of ultimate reality was less important than devotion

B. Islam and its appeal

1. Conversion to Islam occurred in a slow and gradual way

• some converted for improving their lower social statuses
• Often an entire caste or subcaste adopted Islam en masse
• By 1500, about 25 million Indian Muslims (1/4 of pop.)

2. Sufis

• The most effective missionaries, they had a devotional approach to Islam
• Permitted followers to observe old rituals and venerate old spirits
• Emphasized piety and devotion

3. The bhakti movement

• Sought to erase distinction between Hinduism and Islam
• Guru Kabir (1440-1518), important bhakti teacher, taught that Shiva, Vishnu, and Allah were one deity

IV. The influence of Indian society in southeast Asia

A. The states of southeast Asia

1. Indian influence in southeast Asia

• Indian merchants brought their faiths to southeast Asia
• Ruling elite of southeast Asia adapted some Indian political traditions
• The states sponsored Hinduism and Buddhism
• Showed no interest in Indian caste system

2. Funan (first to sixth century C.E.) in the lower reaches of Mekong River (Cambodia/Vietnam)

• Drew enormous wealth by controlling trade
• Adopted Sanskrit as official language
• Decline of Funan in sixth century

3. Srivijaya (670-1025 C.E.) was established on Sumatra after the fall of Funan

• Maintained sea trade between China and India by navy
• Chola kingdom of south India eclipsed Srivijaya in the eleventh century

4. Angkor (889-1431 C.E.)

• Kingdom built by Khmers at Angkor Thom, later Angkor Wat
• The city was a microcosmic reflection of Hindu world order
• Turned to Buddhism during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
• Thais invaded the capital in 1431, and Khmers abandoned it

5. Other states: Singosari (1222-1292 C.E.) and Majapahit (1293-1520 C.E.)

B. The arrival of Islam in southeast Asia

1. Conversion to Islam was slow and quiet

• Ruling elite converted in cities while rural residents retained their traditions
• Islam was not an exclusive faith in southeast Asia
• Sufis appealed to a large public in these countries

2. Melaka was powerful Islamic state during fifteenth century

Economics and Politics

• King Harsha restored unification of India after the collapse of the Gupta Dynasty
• Harsha had a large Indian army with 20,000 cavalry, 50,000 infantry, and 5,000 war elephants!
• Harsha liberally distributed wealth to his subjects, gave gifts to half a million people throughout 75 days
• Local rulers established their authority too securely in India’s regions for Harsha to overcome them
• It was important to King Harsha to solidify alliances with local rulers
• After Harsha was assassinated, his empire disintegrated and local rulers turned northern India into a battle ground for expansion of their realms
• Turkish leader, Mahmud of Ghazni, took advantage of fighting between local rulers; annexed several states in northwestern India and the Punjab.
• Mahmud demolished hundreds of Hindu and Buddhist sites, frequently established mosques or Islamic shrines on those sites.
• Twelfth century, Mahmud’s successor conquered northern India and placed it under Islamic rule. Capital established at Delhi, which controlled access from the Punjab to the Ganges valley. Ruled for more than three centuries.
• They traded within India as well as cross-culturally in the Indian Ocean.

Cultural and Intellectual Developments

1. King Harsha 606-648 CE built hospitals and free medical care for his subjects and liberally distributed wealth

   • encouraged forward thinking and the arts, also gave gifts to half a million people
   • killed by assassination

2. Islam entered India through 3 waysmonopolized monsoon rains and winds to optimize agricultural potential

   • military- Arab forces entered India in 711 CE
   • merchants- Muslims dominated trade networks between India and western lands
     • Muslim merchants intermarried with Indian women
   • migration and invasion- Turkish speaking people entered India from central Asia and brought Islam with them
3. southern India depended heavily on irrigation

4. by 1500 CE the subcontinent had 105 million people

5. public life revolved around Hindu temples that served as economic and social centers

   • these temples maintained reserves of surplus food and provided basic schooling for boys in the community

6. individuals and groups have continuously adjusted the caste system and adapted it to new circumstancesJainism and Buddhism lost most of their followings in the post-classical era

   • with migrations the caste system became more complex and helped to maintain order in small communities
   • caste system expanded northward from its southern root
   • by 11th century it had become the basis for social organization
7. Hinduism- based off of multiple Gods and spirits (south)

8. Islam- strict monotheism (north)

9. Vishnu- preserver of the world; occasionally came into the human form to resist evil or to teach

10. Shiva- God of fertility and destruction

11. people converted to Islam in hopes of improving their positions in society

12. Sufis- encouraged a personal, emotional, devotional, approach to Islam (Muslim missionaries)

13. bhakti movement- a cult of love and devotion that ultimately sought to erase the distinctions between Islam and Hinduism

14. guru kabir- taught Shiva, Vishnu, and Allah as 1 deity whom all devout believers could find within their own hearts

15. ruling Asian elites borrowed Indian forms of political organization and accepted Indian religious faiths and embraced Indian literature like the Ramayana and Mahabharata but did not accept the caste system

16. Indian culture is visible in the Hindi temple Angkor Wat in southeast Asia

17. Indian influence helped to establish Islam as well as Hinduism and Buddhism in southeast Asia

Social and Gender Advancements

1. Hindu temples served as economic and social centers, also provided basic schooling for boys in communityIndia was a natural site for emporia and warehouses because it stood in the middle of the Indian Ocean basin

   • employed 100s of people (Brahmins, attendants, musicians, servants, and slaves)

   • temple authorities served as bankers, made loans, invested in commercial and business ventures

   • encouraged production and trade and promoted economic development of South India, grew crucial to economic health because they grew prosperous from gifts from the merchant guilds of land and money

2. Axumite merchants traded regularly with Muslim merchants in neighboring lands

3. caste system helped maintain order in local communities by providing guidance on individuals' roles in society and their relationships with others because there was not a strong central government

   
   

4. as Turkish peoples or Muslim merchants pursued opportunities in India, gained recognition as distinct groups under caste systemcastes individuals most closely identified with were the subcastes (jati), which often took form of workers' guilds

   • established codes of conduct for regulation of behavior within own groups and for guidance in dealing with members of other castes

5. by 11th century CE caste had become principal basis of social organization in South India

6. Hinduism benefited from decline of buddhism

   • remarkable growth of devotional cults particularly ones dedicated to Vishnu and Shiva

7. Hinduism influence philosophy

8. 1500 CE Indian Muslims numbered 25 million

   • adopted Islam in hope of improving positions in society

9. gap between Hinduism and Islam narrowed in post classical India because both religions drew on long-established and long-observed cultural traditions

   • Sufis often attracted schools of followers in the manner of Indian gurus

   • Bhakti movement: cult of love and devotion that ultimately sought to erase distinction between HInduism and Islam (Southern India 12th century CE) (did not succeed in harmonizing Hinduism and Islam, but the Bhakti teachers did promote values that helped build bridges between India's socil and cultural communities)

10. Indian merchants visited islands and mainlands of southeast Asia starting 500 BCE, by early centuries CE they had become familiar figures and their presence brought opportunities for ruling elites of the region

    • used profits from trade to consolidate political control

      
      

    • adopted kingship

    • sponsored introduction of Hinduism or Buddhism, or both, into their courts

11. first state known to have reflected Indian influence was Funan

    • as trade with India became important in their economy the ruling classes adopted Indian political, cultural, and religious traditions

12. In Angkor (889-1231 CE) their magnificent monuments were influenced by Indians

    
    

    later states of southeast Asia: Angkor,Singosari, and Majapahit

    
    
    

13. Muslim merchants helped to establish Islam in southeast Asia as well

    
    
    

14. in 15th century CE Islam gained momentum in southeast Asia because of powerful state of Melaka

Technology and Environmental Adaptation

• Trade networks linked lands around the Indian ocean during the 10th century

• Maritime technology, well-articulated networks of sea trade, and the building of port cities and entrepôts (warehouses) allowed people around the Indian ocean to trade/communicate more actively.

• Harsha used 5,000 war elephants in his defenses as a new weapon

• Harsha built hospitals and gave free medicare to all of his subjects

• Muslim descendants of Muhammad used to dominate trade and transportation networks

• Mahmud of Ghazni and his forces established mosques and shrines frequently

• Trade fostered economic development in southern India

• In northern India, irrigation had been around since Harappan times

• Dams, reservoirs, canals, wells, and tunnels were being built all over

• Most regions had staple foods like rice, wheat, barely, and millet

• Iron came from the Ganges River Valley

• Copper came from the Deccan plateau

• Salt came from coastal regions

• Pepper came from northern India

• Southern India built hundreds of temples with their overwhelming wealth

• Some junks could carry 1,000 tons of goods at a time

• Indian artisans made fine cotton textiles

• Other specialized industries were sugar refining, leather tanning, stone carving, and carpet weaving

• Funan traded goods in the Isthmus of Kra

• Funan used profits to create irrigation system and an elaborate water storing system

Chronology:

1st-6th century Kingdom of Funan

606-684 Reign of Harsha

670-1025 Kingdom of Srivijaya

711 Conquest of Sind by Umayyad forces

Early 9th century Life of Shankara

850-1267 Chola Kingdom

889-1431 Kingdom of Angkor

1001-1027 Raids on India by Mahmud of Ghazni

11th-12th century Life of Ramanuja

12th century Beginning of the bhakti movement

1206-1526 Sultanate od Dehli

1336-1565 Kingdom of Vijayanagar

1440-1518 Life of guru Kabir